Wake Forest School of Law graduates had the highest overall bar passage rate (which includes repeaters) at 86 percent among North Carolina law schools for the North Carolina bar exam in July 2017. That’s compared with a state overall passage rate of 62 percent, according to the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners.

Wake Forest graduates also had the highest bar passage rate for first-time takers at 90 percent followed by Duke Law School, with the smallest number of graduates sitting for the North Carolina bar, with 87.5 percent for first-time takers. University of North Carolina and Campbell University law schools followed at 85 and 83 percent, respectively.

“I’m proud to say Wake Forest Law is first among schools with their graduates sitting for the North Carolina bar,” says Dean Suzanne Reynolds (JD ’77), who credited the recent graduates’ hard work and enhanced bar preparation programs for the law school’s strong bar passage rate.

The two-section exam includes essay questions designed to test knowledge of North Carolina law and multiple-choice questions that test general knowledge of U.S. law.